RUSSJONES.US

I have been under the weather for the last week. Sorry I haven't blogged to much, but just trying to put one thought in front of the other has been difficult. Monday was horrible. Thursday was tough. Yesterday seemed to be mostly normal. So I am hoping that today and tomorrow will be a physical return to normal. So what have I learned from this experience? The definition of a mid life crisis. It's a crisis that happens in mid life. Hmmmmm! Seems my sense of humor is still in recovery.

One of the things about mono, as with any illness, is that it has a dramatic impact on your psyche. Now in my case, my psyche had a tremendous impact on my mono. So what do you treat first? The illness or the sickness? I know - it doesn't make any sense. But from my point of view all I can do is the following. If you find yourself in a similar situation I think that this will work for you too. #1 - Take care of your mind immediately. Whatever is stressing you out, pushing you over the edge, taking charge of your life - let it go. Let's put it this way - if you stress out because your emails are not getting answered, remember that the day you die, they still won't get answered. It doesn't matter THAT much. If something or someone is going to fly apart at the seams because you let go - chances are you were in a co-dependent relationship that needs to end or at least be revamped. #2 - Take care of your body immediately. What do I mean immediately? Get rest, t

I was going to title this one. "When God Kicks Your Butt." However, that would probably tick a few people off so I just went with Part Duh! In order to get this Mono thing to reassert itself I have to wear myself down, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Why would I do something like that you ask? Oh I guess my life wasn't interesting enough so I had to find some way of really messing it up. I don't know why I did it, I do know how I did it. A few months ago I was really frustrated with my personal productivity. I really didn't feel that I was doing everything that I should be doing. So I did some reading, research and made some changes. I really relied on one book to help me (I will not mention the name of the book or author here simply because I don't want to get sued) and it worked! I mean it really, really worked - until now. I have noticed that this particular author is recently divorced. Now I know why. While I do think that some of his

Around 10 years ago I got mono. No I wasn't kissing anyone or drinking from a public water fountain (yuck). In fact, a small child who came to church one morning wanted to give me a hug. Later I found out that said child was running a fever that day. Well the rest is history. I got sick and thought I was going to die for a week. Well when that was over I expected to recover. But I didn't, in fact I felt worse. Exhausted, confused, disoriented (more than usual). For 6 months I had to come home at 2 on the afternoon and take a nap. I thought something was horribly wrong. I went to the doctor and he said something has gone horribly wrong. He asked me what I thought it was and I said either cancer or mono. He ran with the cancer thing and for the next 6 weeks I was told that I had cancer. When I would ask them how they knew that, they couldn't answer the question - but they knew I had cancer. 2 Cat scans, a MRI - I don't know how many blood tests later they fi

So Anneka is turning 6 tomorrow. I'm not sure what we are doing, I hear a number of ideas floating around, but nothing firm yet. But I do remember something that I thought of 6 years ago. "Wow, first grade seems such a long time from now." Well, she started first grade this week and I was wrong. Dead wrong. It was here quicker than I anticipated. Now I know that this isn't a surprise to everyone and really I should have know better. But to watch her grow up has been a blast. And I can say that I have tried to steal, cherish, hold on to and enjoy every moment of everyday with her. Now before I know it, she will be 12. But it will not be for a lack of trying to slow time down. Here are some pics for you to enjoy.

Almost two years to the day after Randy and Paula White announced their divorce, another Florida megachurch pastoring couple has made it official that their marriage is over. Zachery and Riva Tims, the founding pastors of New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC) in Orlando, Fla., have officially ended their 15-year marriage two years after it was discovered that Zachery Tims had an affair with an exotic dancer he met in Paris. You can read the rest of the article here. I read stuff like this and I just don't know what to do. It pains me to see disasters of this magnitude strike at the heart of Christianity here in America. One part of me really wants to let them have it, because if you think that this makes our ministries easier - you are wrong. I have had too many people come through my church desperate to connect to God and His people, but couldn't. They just can't trust the church or it's people anymore. One part of me is hurt. Can I understand how this can happen

He's retired, no he isn't. Is he? Yes, no - Huh? Minnesota? What's up with this? I don't know Brett Farve and I am not pointing fingers at him at all. I am a little confused though, admittedly I don't know how contracts, agent, football, quarterback and teams do their legal eagle stuff. But then, something seems amiss here to me. Can you make up your mind? If you keep flip flopping on a decision. Ask yourself why? If your motives are not pure, you may want to rethink this. Can you let go? When you keep going back again and again and again, is it because you are still the best and can do what you do well? Or is it because you can't admit you can't do it anymore and pride is in the way of your quitting? Can you move on? You may admit that you can't do what you use to do, but you don't have anywhere to go, therefore, you keep doing what you can't do well. Not a good idea.

You probably think I am going to talk about family, marriage or careers. No I'm not. I believe that you know that these things are already important. What I do want for you to take a serious look at, is what makes those things important to you. Priority #2 - Attitude. Your attitude is shaped by your values and beliefs. How you perceive your life and your world is reflected through your attitude. If we don't like something, we have a bad attitude. If we like something, we have a good attitude. Simple stuff really isn't it? But what makes bad, bad and good, good? We assume we already know, but I have had people tell me that cancer, for them, was a good thing. I have also had people tell me that winning a million dollars was a bad thing. I know, leaves your head spinning. Let's break it down. If your attitude is all about you - then your expectations from life and other people are selfishly motivated. You want what you want when you want it. The problem with this is that y

Everyone has priorities. I would guess that most people just don't know what they are. I would venture another guess that what people say are their priorities isn't really their priorities. So what are yours? Begin by looking at your check register and your day timer. What do you spend most of your money and time on? They will tell you what your priorities are. Ask other people, whom you trust, this question. "What do you think are my priorities?" (Or some version of that question.) Take an honest assessment of yourself and discover what puts a smile on your face, joy in your heart? What do you look forward to? Chances are, these are the things that we prioritize. We can be selfish with our priorities. We can prioritize only that which we like or what makes us happy. That is why we see many people who refuse to work or take care of their children. These things are not "fun" to them. They have other things which are more important to do. There is a old saying

Prioritizing your life may seem easy, but life if anything is predictable. It wants you to do what it wants, not what you desire. So what can you do? #1 - Do what God obviously wants you to do. All through His Word we read what is important to God. Whatever is important to Him is now important to us. Worship, Evangelism, Fellowship with other believers, Compassion, Prayer, etc. Not only does this speak to our actions, but is also speaks to our character. #2 - Do what has been assigned to you. Very simply, there are some things that have been placed in your lap whether you like them or not. Your job, parenthood and marriage are a few of the major ones that you might be wrestling with. For those of you in the ministry, your calling would be addressed here. #3 - Do what you have been gifted with. God has gifted each of us with something that we do well. Both supernaturally and naturally. Discover what God has gifted you with and do it well for Him and His Kingdom. #4 - Do what God created

When we were younger - our parents prioritized our life for us. Teaching us what we needed to know at appropriate times. You know, manners, learning skills, sex ed, etc, etc, etc. As we grow older, life begins to prioritize our life for us. Pay the bills, eat right, live well and so on. But for most of us, that part of life becomes a drag. Work, get paid, pay the bills, have a little fun, repeat. Life starts looking like the directions on a shampoo bottle. I have never and don't believe that God designed our lives to be this way. I just don't see it. If the purpose of life was to work ourselves into the ground just to pay the bills, then why didn't Jesus come to do just that. Didn't he have bills to pay? He sure did, He even paid taxes too, but these things were not the focus of His life. The purposes of His Father in heaven were His reason for being. From these He found His strength, His hope, His joy and His life. All this other stuff was secondary, if

Placing the words "life" and "normal" in the same sentence seems a little odd to me. There is nothing normal about following the Holy Spirits direction in your life. To say that God's ways are not my ways is like saying eating a hamburger is the same as eating a Kansas City Porterhouse. Never gonna happen! So what is God doing today? What is He doing right now? What am I suppose to be doing as opposed to what I have to do? There is no doubt that much of what we do is necessary - but how much of what we do is seizing the opportunities that God is giving us at this very moment. I don't know about you - but I am going to meditate about this a lot! I have a feeling that God is going to something great!

Well it is over. This morning we had the privilege of getting to listen to Rick Warren. I have to tell you that one part of me was surprised and another part wasn't - neither of which was a bad thing. For the first have of his time, he spent it encouraging pastors by sharing his heart and life with us in a real and honest way. Then he started to share with us the Purpose Driven church model. Read the book quite a few times and so that didn't surprise me. But in case if you wondering. He is really, really passionate about it. Got to say bye to a number of friends whom I haven't seen in years. Some as long as 25 years. It was a trip back in time for some of us - and for others of us - it was a bad trip. Tonight I had the privilege of having dinner with Bob Aston. Knew each other years ago in Spfield. Mo where we went to college together. He is now a US Missionary to children. Great job! However, Anneka was not so impressed. In fact she has had about as much as

Day four at General Council was good. I got to see a long time friend, one of our missionaries, Neil Ruda. I can't post a lot of pics of missionaries because they serve in sensitive areas of the world. But they are here and I will be happy to let you know who I have seen these last few days. Then we went to an event called the Eurasia Experience. For one hour you get to experience life in places like India, Pakistan and other countries along this area. Many of these countries are Muslim, Buddhist and HIndu. Hearing the stories of how God is changing these areas is exciting. But experiencing the culture, even for just a few minutes is overwhelming. These parts are being played by the missionaries who serve there. Some of which I knew - that got me a little attention too. We saw a woman who tried to sell us 12 year old prostitutes. We were accosted by pick pockets. We were yelled at by customs officials. A street vendor desperately tried to get me to buy some of her wares.

Lot's of voting today. Got to vote for our General Superintendent George Wood. He preached last night what I consider one of the best sermons about the ministry I have ever heard. WOW! We also elected James Bradford Gen. Secretary - Doug Clay Gen. Treasure and re-elected Zollie Smith US Missions Director. We were working on a lot of resolutions and were electing Executive Presbyters when my handheld voting machine went out for the third time. I don't think that the system was recording my vote any more - frustrating! This is a picture of Stanley Horton. He is 93 years old and was honored for the achievements of his life. What did he do? He shaped the Pentecostal theology that you enjoy today. He is one of my heros! He didn't set out to shape Pentecost, but he did. I have read his books and they have changed me and how I see the Bible. God Bro. Horton! Saw even more missionaries today. Many of whom have been to FFWC. Met some new ones from all over the Unit

Today is the first day for the vendors. I don't know how many there were or how big the area we were in, but it took us over 4 hours to just "look". Lot's to see and do. Remember the Carranos? Met them at the Euro Cafe. Saw the Morales' there too. I couldn't believe this when I saw it! Jesus was at General Council!! Who would of thunk it? And then Anneka got to met her hero! Bibleman!!

We go into Orlando early so Betty could have lunch with a friend of hers who lives here. Then we got lost on the way to the hotel. (I really want to meet the person who makes these signs for the Florida DOT). So once we got turned around and got checked in, we were all set to go to GC. Then it poured! Word had it that registration was loooooooong. So when we got there I started tweeting! It took us an hour to get registered. The pic above is only the front of the line. I met people who stood in line over 4 hours! Houston we . . . . (oh that line is overused). Jeff Deyo led worship last night. Got a little video I'll share later. Tonight Travis Cottrell will be leading worship. Hey, Google his name. We sing a lot of his music on Sunday's.

So I am getting the oil changed in the car and I call Betty to let her know that I am on my way back. (We have to pack to go to Orlando). So the phone rings and I hear this little "Hello?" on the other end of the phone. It's Anneka! "Anneka?" I asked. "Yes" she says. "You answered the phone!?!" And very proudly she says, "Yes I did!" This would be the first time that Anneka has ever answered the phone when I called. This was waaaaay to cool! So when I get home, I told Betty and she said, "Yea, and I didn't even know the phone was ringing!" So if you call and you get the little voice on the other end - you know who it is.

Today beings the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Every 2 years, somewhere in the US, AG ministers and delegates of AG churches meet to conduct necessary business. Yes this does take all week because is only happens once every two years (a lot of business gets backed up). While this is going on, there are leadership conferences, luncheons, banquets, meetings, vendor displays and the like. I suspect that there will be 22,000 to 25,000 registered people there. This will be the first time Betty and I have attended one from start to finish. I will be Twittering a lot on this one. So if you want to follow me go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account. (Takes about 3 minutes and it's free). My user name is russ_jones. See you all later at the Mouse Trap!

I'm starting a new series tomorrow entitled. The Church According To Twitter. I am really going to enjoy this series because it's about one of my favorite subjects. People! So in light of the fact that I am going to use Twitter as a springboard for this series, I thought I ought to get better acquainted with it. So you can get a free account at Twitter.com and then look for me, russ_jones. That's my user name. I have linked my twitter account to my FB account and also signed up with twitpic and twitvid. That way I can also post pictures and videos in real time. I am going to try to use this a lot at General Council next week. Until then, start Twittering. (PS I will take 3 minutes to show you what Twitter is all about tomorrow.) See you then!